Reed looking at feasibility of opening 'killer nurse cases

1/16/1984 Georgetown, Texas Genene Jones, 33, facing trial on a murder charge alleging she killed a 15-month -old girl with a dose of a paralyzing drug arrives at Williamson County(Texas) courthouse Monday for the start of her trial. Escorting Ms. Jones are Deputies Monica Kiepac and Jim WIlson.

Photo By COURTESY PHOTO

2/26/1984 Georgetown, Texas: Following the sentencing of nurse Genene Jones to 99 years for the murder of 15 month old Chelsea Ann McClellan, the parents of Chelsea met with reporters. Reid and Petti McClellan said that the end of the trial brought a great sense of relief.

2/15/1984 Georgetown Texas, Protestors carry signs outside the WIlliamson County Courthouse, as the last phase of the Genene Jones trial begins. Jones is now deleberating.

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed says Genene Jones “was implicated in the deaths of 47 children, and my goodness, we cannot have someone like that free.”

Photo By Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News

Nick Rothe, as an assistant Bexar County district attorney, successfully prosecuted "Killer Nurse" Genene Jones for the death of an infant years ago. Jones, who was sentenced to 60 years in this case and 99 years in another, will be released from state prison in 2018. A campaign is forming to find another murder case against her to keep her in prison, but Rothe is skeptical that this is possible. Aug. 14, 2013.

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SAN ANTONIO — District Attorney Susan Reed said Friday that she has begun what she knows could be a futile effort to find evidence linking a former pediatric nurse to any of the dozens of baby deaths she's suspected of causing more than 30 years ago.

Reed said she started exploring the issue about two months ago, after hearing that Genene Jones could be released as early as 2018 under a mandatory sentencing law that was in place when she was convicted of murder in Kerr County and injury to a child in Bexar County. Jones has been eligible for parole before but was denied several times.

“I personally believe Genene Jones should not get out of prison,” Reed said in an interview, adding that she's looking at whether any Bexar County cases can even be pursued.

The mother of the only child Jones was convicted of killing said Friday she's waited decades to hear that cases against Jones would receive a closer look.

“Since 1985, half of my life, I've been waiting to hear that,” said Petti McClellan, 59, who is among the most vocal opponents of Jones' potential release. “To hear (Reed), in her position, to say yes, she was going to do it, and to hear how disgusted she was, saying they can't let (Jones) do it again ... that was the first step toward the miracle we've been wanting.”

The true number of deaths connected to Jones has never been proved but some estimates put the number at just higher than 40.

A 1985 New England Journal of Medicine study found that during the time Jones worked at Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, 42 babies died, 34 while she was on duty — and the infant death rate increased 178 percent during her tenure there.

Chelsea McClellan was 15 months old when Jones injected her with a muscle relaxant that killed her. A Kerr County jury sentenced Jones to 99 years, which she began serving in 1984, the same year she was sentenced in the Bexar County case, according to records.

Only a month old when he was sent to the ICU where Jones worked, Rolando Santos nearly died from an injection of blood thinner. Nick Rothe, a former Bexar County prosecutor, tried Jones for injury to a child and got a 60-year sentence.

Former and current prosecutors in Kerr, Harris and Bexar counties have said in interviews with the San Antonio Express-News that no one wants Jones out of prison, but building a new case against her would be difficult.

Reed said she agrees, but has to try. She's requested all the case files she can find, and contacted former prosecutors to gather any notes. She also met with former Bexar County medical examiner Vincent Di Maio about whether collecting forensic evidence would be possible.

Then there is the matter of finding family members of babies who were buried more than 30 years ago.

McClellan said she understands building a case could be an uphill battle.

“I just hope people come forward — anyone who worked at the hospital, family members, anyone — even if you think what you have to say isn't that important, because you never know, it could be very important,” she said.